You Ruin Me
by Heart Full of Elves
Summary: Something precious falls through the Rift and makes its way into Owen's hands.


_Note: For CaptainLoudwater. Yes, I did name this after a The Veronicas song. Deal with it._

* * *

**glitter**

_verb_

1\. shine with a bright, shimmering reflected light.

Owen Harper trudged his way through muddy grass, muttering under his breath. He and the Torchwood team was out on a scavenger hunt, looking for something of alien origin that had fallen through the Rift and ended up somewhere in the vicinity. Normally that wouldn't be much of a problem, but the bloody awful Cardiff weather had made sure the paddock in the Welsh countryside in which they were searching had become a mud bath. There was also one tiny problem about the object they were looking for: they had no idea what it was.

"Bloody hell, Jack, why'd you have to drag us out to the middle of nowhere?" Owen moaned. "Whatever it is, it's not here."

"Shut up, Owen," one of the girls snapped.

He was about to snipe back with an "or what?" but as he set down his foot he felt something hard underneath his shoe. He lifted his foot to see what he'd stood on, and would have ignored the small, circular object that was covered in mud and who-knew-what-else, except that just then it glittered. He bent down to get a closer look, and picked it up. In his palm lay something he couldn't quite identify. Pulling a tissue out of his pocket, he used that to wipe clean the mud from the object, and couldn't help staring at it.

_Shiny_, his mind said as he took in the plain gold band. Tilting his head to one side, he held it up to a break in the grey, overcast sky where there was better light, and the ring shimmered in the dim sunlight. Mesmerised, Owen didn't talk for a full five minutes, preoccupied with watching the way the sun made the golden ring glisten, and the others noticed his silence.

"Owen, we haven't heard you complain for a few minutes," announced Gwen. "Are you okay?" Despite her words, she sounded amused rather than concerned.

"Fine," he answered, folding his fingers over the ring in his hand to keep it from view. For reasons he couldn't explain, he didn't want to share this treasure. He'd found the ring; it now belonged to him and only him.

Just then, Jack clapped his hands and they all turned towards their captain. "We've been here for hours now," he declared, as if they needed reminding, "has anyone found _any_thing?"

Gwen and Ianto shook their heads, both of them looking miserable with their mud-drenched clothes and ruined shoes, though Owen thought they had no right to be. They were Welsh, after all – they should be used to it!

Tosh gestured towards her scanner with frustration. "All this tells me is that it's small and round. As you said, we've been out searching for hours, and none of us has found anything. I could recalibrate to narrow it down, but even then we might never find this object."

For a split second, Owen was tempted to reveal the ring, to show that their efforts had not been fruitless, but then a dark voice inside his head told him not to. _It's mine,_ said the voice. _Mine!_ So he slipped it into his jeans pocket, out of sight, and didn't mention it.

"Okay," Jack sighed. Owen had seen the man look this resigned only a couple of times before, and something niggled at his gut that he should confess, but that voice in his head silenced any guilt. "We don't know what we're looking for, we haven't found anything, and I've got mud all over my newly-cleaned coat-" Ianto glared at that- "so let's get out of here."

"Wait a minute," said Gwen. "We're going to leave without finding whatever fell through the Rift? What if it's dangerous?"

"That's a risk we have to take," Jack replied. "Unless you have a better idea of finding it?"

She shook her head. "So this was all a waste of time?"

"Trudging through a muddy paddock in the middle of nowhere on a cold, overcast day? Think of it as a learning experience!" Jack grinned at them all.

No-one smiled back, and Ianto snorted. "What did we learn then, sir?" he asked, the only one to take the bait.

"We learnt," replied Jack, with a sparkle in his eye and a lecherous look to his smile, "that dirty and wet is a very attractive look on you."

Owen made a gagging noise. He wanted to tell them all to shut up, to just stop talking so that he could spend time with his precious new ring (_precious?_ Where had that come from?) in peace. But that would alert them to its presence, which he was trying to avoid, so he didn't.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "If you say so, sir. But I'm still angry about you getting that coat muddy. Very, very angry, in fact," he lowered his voice.

"Angry enough to punish me?" asked Jack, and the excitement in his eyes was unmistakeable, especially from where Owen was unlucky enough to be standing.

"Perhaps." A small smile made its way onto Ianto's lips, looking too much like a promise for Owen's liking. _Get a room, _the medic's inner voice screamed. This was just too much information.

Gwen cleared her throat. "Are we going?" she asked, making her way over to the gate.

Jack blinked, and Owen watched the previous eager expression leave his face as the man shook his head. "Right, _vamos_. Let's go."

Owen trailed behind the rest of the team, trying to put the ring out of his mind so he could concentrate on not falling over in the mud. But all the way back to the hub, his fingers kept dipping into his pocket to check the ring was still there.

* * *

**obsession**

_noun_

1\. the state of being obsessed with someone or something.

an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind.

A couple of weeks later, it was obvious to the rest of the team that something was going on with Owen. He spent all his time in the autopsy room, and while he usually was the first to take a break and head to the boardroom for lunch, he now had to be forced out of his lair to eat. He wasn't even demanding coffee from Ianto at all hours anymore, which scared the hell out of them. Their already wiry medic had lost weight, and dark bags were visible under his eyes. He'd stopped bickering with Gwen and winding up Ianto, and started declining Tosh's invitation to go out with everyone on Friday evenings.

Nobody brought it up, unwilling to talk about Owen behind his back, but the exchanged glances with each other told Gwen all she needed to know: they'd all noticed. So, exactly three weeks after that useless trip to the countryside, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She waited until he went to the loo – even if he was acting strange, a man still had to pee sometime or another – before pouncing. Checking to make sure that her actions went unseen, she crept down the stairs to the autopsy room, only wincing once as one of her heels clicked on the step, and sneaked over to the cupboard where all the medical equipment was kept. Her heart beat fast at the suspense of snooping around her teammate's space (although she had a legitimate reason for searching his things, as she was worried about his recent change in behaviour) and she took two slow, deep breaths to calm herself. Owen could return at any minute, so she had to make this fast.

She rummaged through the cupboard, her copper's hands and eyes working fast to check for anything out of the ordinary, anything that didn't belong there. She pushed aside chemicals and bandages, almost knocking over a bottle of mercury in her hurry. She looked past scalpels and needles, her heart beating like a drum as she realised that Owen would most likely be on his way back by now. There seemed to be nothing in the cupboard that shouldn't be there, so she skidded over to one of the trolleys. Her eyes scanned the objects on the trolley, and she moved to the other one, where she had success.

There, in amongst a small handful of scalpels, lay a gold ring.

Gwen picked it up, frowning. She knew for a fact that the ring didn't belong in the autopsy room, and she knew that it wasn't Owen's. She'd got to know him rather well during their brief affair last year, and seen the inside of his flat many times. He didn't own a gold ring.

She squinted at it, but there wasn't much to see. It was just a plain band with no gem or inscription on it. But if there weren't anything special about it, why was it in Owen's working space? No, there had to be some significance. It seemed to be an ordinary piece of jewellery, perhaps a wedding ring, but she hadn't seen it in Owen's possession before and he _was_ acting out of character lately, so maybe there was something hidden beneath its plain exterior. Tosh had once been given an alien pendant that allowed her to read people's thoughts – could this ring be similar?

She was almost tempted – _almost_ – to keep it for herself, as it seemed to call out to her, but if it were the cause of Owen's sudden lack of sleep, loss of appetite, and unwillingness to socialise, then she had to act. She slipped the ring into her jacket pocket and made her way up the autopsy steps, heading for Jack's office. She met Owen along the way, but she just ignored him, knowing that emotions were easily read on her face, and she couldn't hide the guilt of invading his space. She knocked on Jack's door.

"I'm, uh, a little… tied up at the moment!" came Jack's shout. It sounded like he was panting.

She was about to apologise and promise to pop back later when she heard swearing coming from inside the office and was able to pick out two distinct voices. Her expression changed to one of embarrassment as she caught on, her cheeks pink and her eyes wide. "In the middle of the day, Jack?" she shouted back. "Can't you two keep it in your pants until _after_ work hours?"

There was a muffled shout and a _not_ muffled obscenity, and she winced at the knowledge of what was going on behind that door. "Give us a minute!" Jack called.

She gave them four. Just to be safe.

A completely unfazed and immaculate Ianto walked out with a clipboard, offering her a small and secretive smile. "You can go in now," he chirped.

She nodded to him and was about to cross the threshold when she paused. "He wasn't _actually, physically_ tied up, was he?"

"Wasn't he?" said Ianto, raising one eyebrow.

She shuddered. "You and your little games." She shook her head at him, though it was with the fondness of an exasperated yet loving mother.

He just smirked and walked away, while she squared her shoulders and walked in.

"Yes?" Jack enquired, sounding a little dazed.

She cleared her throat to gain some composure, and began by pulling the ring out of her pocket. "I found this," she told him, holding it out in front of her.

"So?" he frowned.

"_So_," she elaborated, "I found it in the autopsy room. I've never seen it before, and remember Tosh's alien pendant? I thought this could be similar – you noticed she was acting strange after Mary gave her the pendant, so maybe this ring is the reason for Owen's strange behaviour?"

He reached out to take it. "It looks like a plain old ring," he said, holding it up to the light before giving it a quick polish with his shirt.

"I know that," she replied, trying not to snap. _That _was the whole point – it _looked_ like a plain old ring, but it might be something more. _That_ was what she was worried about. "Think about it," she begged. "He hasn't been himself lately, we've all noticed it. This is the only thing that's different, the only thing that's new."

He looked up at her, countenance serious. "You think this ring is causing him to act weird?" he checked, sounding incredulous.

"It may sound a bit out there, but do you have a better explanation?" she challenged, crossing her arms.

He sighed. "I'll get Tosh to have a look at it."

"Good." She nodded her approval, and lowered her voice. "You might not want to let Owen know about it, though. I didn't exactly take it with permission."

"Ah." He smiled at her like a proud father. "Do many ex-police officers become thieves?"

"You'd be surprised," she told him, and walked out of his office.

Jack was left looking at the ring in his hand with a furrowed brow.

* * *

**ring**

_noun_

1\. a small circular band, typically of precious metal and often set with one or more gemstones, worn on a finger as an ornament or a token of marriage, engagement, or authority.

Tosh was busy working on a new translation programme when she sensed Jack's presence behind her. Turning around in her chair, she looked up at him, the question reflected in her eyes.

"Toshiko," he said in a low tone, keeping his voice quiet for some reason. "I want you to run a scan on this. Find out everything you can." He pulled out a ring from his pocket and handed it to her.

She glanced down at the ring for a second, then frowned up at her boss. "It's a ring," she stated.

"Yes," he replied, just as blunt. "But it could be dangerous."

Her dark eyes sparkled at that. "Dangerous?" she repeated, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice but not succeeding.

Jack leant in to murmur in her ear. "Gwen thinks it could be related to Owen's strange behaviour."

She blinked. "I'll get that scan up and running right now," she promised.

"Tell me if you find anything. Oh, and don't let Owen know you have it," Jack added as an afterthought.

"On it now."

Jack swaggered away, probably to harass Ianto, Tosh thought, and she was left gazing at the ring in her hand. It didn't appear to be anything other than an ordinary ring, but if Torchwood had taught her anything over the years, it was that outward appearances could be very deceiving indeed. She saved what she was working on and, checking to make sure that Owen wasn't in sight – he wasn't, of course – she opened up a scan on one monitor and a search on another.

After a bit of tapping at keys and reading results on her screens, Tosh closed her programmes before wandering over to Jack's office. The door was open, so she didn't knock, just walked right in and clicked the door shut behind her.

"Well? What have you got for me?" asked Jack, sitting back in his chair.

She crossed over to his desk and stood in front of it. Setting the ring down in the middle of the desk so they both had a good, clear view of it, she said, "The ring is made of gold, but it's not of terrestrial origin. I don't know where it's from, but gold like that can't be found on Earth."

"Okay, that's a start. Anything else?" he asked. "Anything helpful?"

She exhaled. "I couldn't find anything related to it on our database, and apart from the scan that proves it's alien, it seems to be a perfectly normal ring."

"Damn." The hope faded from his eyes. "Don't tell me that's all."

She shook her head. "The scan suggests that some sort of technology – unknown and alien, of course – inside the ring could allow an inscription to be visible when held up to a heat source."

"Any heat source, or one in particular?" His hope was back.

"I tried holding it up to a lightbulb – in the loo, so Owen couldn't see me – but nothing happened. I think we may have to experiment," she concluded.

"Hmm." Jack appeared to think for a moment, then he clicked his fingers, a thought having apparently popped into his head. She watched him rummage through his desk drawers and was about to ask what he was looking for when he said, "Aha!" and produced a candle and a box of matches.

"What are you…? Oh! That could work." She looked at her captain with approval.

He lit the red-and-orange-swirled candle and let it burn for a couple of minutes. "Let's see if this works," he said, picking up the ring and holding it above the flame. When nothing happened, he shifted his grip and held the ring in the flame itself.

Tosh gasped when an inscription of some sort appeared on the inside of the gold band. It was in a language – an _alphabet_ – she couldn't decipher, the letters all swirly and precise, but it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. She reached out to touch it, and snatched her hand back, yelping when the heat burnt her finger. In her head, she knew that had been a stupid thing to do, trying to touch a metal object in a flame, but the beauty of the ring had called out to her.

"Run a translation on the inscription," Jack requested, sounding a little wistful, as if he too were affected by the pretty letters. He cleared his throat to regain his composure. "Do what you have to do; I want to know _exactly_ what it says on the inside of this ring."

She nodded. Thinking that the inscription would probably fade if it were taken out of the flame, she asked for his mobile so she could take a photo. That done, she took the phone and the ring back to her workstation and started up the previous version of her translation programme.

It took some time to get the translation, but the last word appeared on the screen in English just as a crash could be heard from down in the autopsy room. She winced, her ears just picking up Owen's frantic hissing. "Where is it? Where's the precious? Who's taken it?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ianto walking past, and stopped him. Slipping the ring into his suit jacket pocket, she whispered, "Sneak that back into the autopsy room."

"Where does it belong?" the young man asked, willing to take part in the subterfuge without knowing the details that she did.

She paused when she realised she didn't know. "Ask Gwen," she murmured, and explained that Gwen had found it.

He nodded, and went on his way.

Tosh printed out the translation of the ring's inscription, and shut down the programme. She would be relieved when she could use the next version of the programme – it would be faster and better at translating languages into modern English and she wouldn't have to do any guesswork herself – but this version had worked well enough for this task.

She all but ran into Jack's office, and lay down the piece of paper in front of him. "Here's the translation," she said.

Jack picked up the sheet and read, in a confused and irreverent tone, "_One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them._ What the hell does that mean?"

"I have no idea. I did a quick search, but again, nothing," she replied, straightening out a crease in her sleeve. "It doesn't sound good, though."

"No," he agreed. "It sounds dark, maybe even evil."

"Is there such a thing as pure good and evil?" she challenged, thinking about everything she'd seen in the past few years. She had seen things that were good, and things that were evil, but she didn't believe that it was that black and white. The pendant that Mary had once given her had helped her to see that.

"Perhaps not." He sighed. "Okay, team meeting in here in two minutes. Get Gwen and Ianto, but not Owen. Be discreet."

She nodded, and hurried out to fetch Ianto and Gwen.

When the four were all assembled in Jack's office, the man himself asked where the ring was now. Ianto answered that it was back where Gwen had found it, having had to distract Owen with coffee in order to sneak over and put it back. Jack nodded his approval, but then hesitated. "If you were making coffee, why didn't I get any?" he pouted.

"It was kind of urgent," Ianto scowled.

"Okay, okay." Seeing that Ianto was about to get defensive about being used as a tea boy, Gwen put her arms between the two men to pacify them. "Okay, what's the story?"

Jack gestured for Tosh to speak. "Toshiko?"

"The ring is alien, and when you put it in a flame, this inscription appears." Tosh showed Gwen and Ianto the translation. "That's all we know, but I agree with Gwen's theory that it's the cause for Owen's odd behaviour lately."

Ianto muttered the words on the paper to himself while Gwen looked surprised that Tosh was familiar with her theory, but was pleased that her snooping on Owen hadn't been a waste of time and that they were doing something about it. "That's not much to go on, but what do we do?"

"We should destroy it," announced Ianto, his jaw set. Tosh smiled, glad that he was on her side and showing genuine concern for a man with whom he hadn't been the best of friends in the past.

Tosh nodded in agreement, as did Jack. "There's something dark and sinister about it, and if it really _is_ affecting Owen, we don't know what else it could do."

"It could be manipulating him," Gwen pondered, exchanging worried glances with her colleagues.

"So the question is," said Jack, "how do we get rid of it?"

Just then there was a loud beep from Tosh's computer, a Rift alert, and she had a brainwave.

* * *

**Judas kiss**

_noun_

1\. an act of betrayal, especially one disguised as a gesture of friendship.

A Rift flare was predicted for late the following Monday, and Tosh shared her strategy with the rest of the team – except for Owen, of course. Her plan would take the ring out of their hands, and it would, they all hoped, stop affecting their colleague. It was decided that both Jack and Ianto would drive to the site of the flare and throw the ring back into the Rift, as all except Ianto had felt the ring's allure. Two men were better than one for the task – if one of them succumbed while it was in his possession, the other could still take it and dispose of it according to plan.

Over the next week, Owen's obsession with his precious ring was made even more obvious. His skin had become sallow, hanging off his bones, and he survived solely on Ianto's coffee, clearly not eating or sleeping. Over the past few weeks, he'd become ugly, and it hurt to see it. Gwen and Ianto both claimed to have seen him holding the ring up to the light and muttering to himself on separate occasions. Watching this happen was hard on them all, but they had no choice but to wait for the scheduled Rift flare.

Gwen gave both Tosh and Ianto some pickpocket training, in case one of them had to steal the ring out of Owen's pocket. Ianto smirked a little to himself as he knew as well as Gwen did how to steal, having been somewhat of a thief in his teens, but he didn't bring it up with her.

That night, Gwen left at her usual time so as not to arouse Owen's suspicions, but the others stayed, which was not outside the norm. Jack lived in the hub, and both Tosh and Ianto were workaholics, always the first to arrive and the last to leave, so there was nothing unusual about them still being there at almost ten at night. Owen was still in the autopsy room, to nobody's surprise. Tosh glanced over at Ianto, who was working at his computer. Jack was in his office. Despite their outward appearances of being hard at work, both men were ready to go as soon as the ring was in their hands. Everything was set; they had everything they needed – except the ring.

When her computer clock ticked over to the hour, approximately thirty-six minutes and ten seconds before the flare was predicted (she couldn't be more precise) Tosh took in a deep breath and left her workstation to go down to the autopsy room. Owen didn't hear her approach, and she had to clear his throat to get his attention.

His head snapped around. "What do _you_ want?" he snarled, putting something in his pocket – _bingo!_ – not as inconspicuously as he thought.

She reared back, caught off guard by his unexpected aggression. This ring was getting to him, and she knew that what was about to happen was all for the best. "I just, um…" she dithered, her prepared answer going out the window. _What to do, what to do_? she panicked. _Stuff it_, she thought when her clever mind came up with nothing, and threw herself at him.

Surprised, and with good reason to be, Owen didn't kiss her back as her lips landed on his, but she didn't give him a chance to push her away, holding onto his neck with her left hand and slipping the fingers on her right downwards and into his pocket. She kept kissing him for just long enough to fish out the ring and pop it into her own pocket. It felt like a betrayal, distracting him like that to steal something of his, but she reminded herself that it was for his own – and perhaps the whole _world's_ – good. She was just confiscating a possible weapon of destruction.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" he demanded when she pulled back, looking more stunned than angry.

"_That_ was to get your attention. You need to relax," she told him. "Go home. You've been working too hard lately."

"Thanks, but I don't need advice from you, Tosh."

She winced; that _stung_. "I'm worried about you. Please, just get some sleep; you look awful." Making a dig at his appearance should make an impression, she thought.

Sure enough, he frowned and said, "You think I'm missing my beauty sleep?" His face softened, and she could tell he realised then that she was concerned about him as a friend.

Smiling, she nodded. "Just promise that you won't stay up too late. I'm going home now, and I don't want to have to call to check on you."

He sighed. "Fine, I promise."

"Good night, Owen," she said, satisfied that that was all she was going to get.

"Night, Tosh."

_Thanks Gwen,_ thought Tosh as she turned off her computers and gathered up her handbag. It was just as well the ex-constable had taught her how to pickpocket, not just Ianto – if _he_ had been the one to steal the ring from Owen's trousers, he couldn't be paid enough to kiss the medic in order to distract him. Touching her lips, she smiled, and hoped that one day Owen would be the one to kiss _her._

The ring now in her possession, she went to give it to Jack and Ianto so they could get rid of it before Owen noticed it was missing. Then, her job done, she went home for some much-needed rest.

* * *

**alluring**

_adjective_

1\. powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating; seductive.

The ring secure in Jack's greatcoat pocket, he shouted out to Owen to lock up the hub when he went home, and grabbed Ianto. The two men left the hub not long after Tosh, and jumped into the SUV, following the directions she had sent to the vehicle's GPS.

"I'm not sure I like going behind Owen's back like this," Ianto admitted as they sped towards the location of the predicted Rift flare.

Jack glanced at him, taking his eyes off the road for a moment.

"Jack, watch out!" Ianto _didn't _squeak as they almost crossed the centreline.

Jack turned his focus back onto the road in front of him. "You've done it before," he said in reply to Ianto's earlier comment. "To all of us."

Ianto flinched. "You think I _enjoyed_ that?" he snapped.

"No," sighed Jack. "But it felt like it at the time."

It was Ianto's turn to sigh. "I _am_ sorry, sir."

"I know you are." Jack patted the young man's shoulder, the comforting gesture made awkward by the layout of the car. He returned his hand to the steering wheel. "And I forgive you."

"Thank you," Ianto whispered, and placed his hand on Jack's thigh. They spent the rest of the drive in silence, Jack's mind wandering as his hand keep reaching for the ring in his pocket and he had to remind himself to keep both hands on the wheel and focus on getting there in time for the Rift flare.

Their location happened to be a car park in Newtown. Jack drove in and parked by the ramp at the exit in case they had to make a quick getaway, as the Rift could well try and take both the men as well as the ring. Throwing open the doors of the SUV, they got out and waited in the middle of the car park, still in silence. It wasn't that they were refusing to talk to each other after their awkward conversation in the car, it was just that there was a job to be done and nothing to be said.

At last, there was a flash of bright light, and Jack stared at it, transfixed.

"Okay, throw it in!" Ianto called.

Jack fished the ring out of his pocket and held it in his palm, but made no effort to get closer to the Rift flare.

"Jack? Come on, you need to rid of it!"

It was as if Jack were deaf, for there was no sign that he had heard Ianto. Ianto tugged at Jack's sleeve, but Jack ignored him, stroking the gold ring with the strong and masculine fingers of his other hand, his gaze fixed on the bright light in the middle of the car park.

"Jack?" Ianto was shouting now, anything to get Jack's attention and make him throw the ring away. He wasn't getting through to him, and Ianto hated himself for it, but he could think of no other way. He pulled his gun out of his holster and loaded it. He held the muzzle to the back of Jack's head, feeling his dinner threaten to come back up every second, but knowing that he didn't have any other option. The ring _had_ to go.

Cocking his gun, he spoke in a low and menacing tone. "Jack," he said. "Throw the ring into the Rift, _now._"

At first it seemed that Jack's trance was broken, for he turned his head to look back at Ianto, but his eyes were darkened, the blue of his irises barely visible, and his lips were sneering. "Or what?"

Ianto swallowed. The last time he'd held a gun to Jack's head, the man hadn't hesitated to turn the tables and put the gun to _his_ head, so he knew he didn't have much time. "I will do anything to make sure this planet is safe," he said, proud at the way he kept his voice steady, "and that includes hurting you if your mind is being manipulated by alien technology. Now throw the ring away or I _will_ kill you."

That appeared to get through to Jack and, with some prompting, he took the twenty paces necessary to get close to the bright orange light of the Rift. He stood there with the ring in his palm, frozen in place.

"Do it!" commanded Ianto.

Jack laughed then, an ugly, _evil _sound that was all wrong coming out of his mouth. "No. You can't make me!" Ianto shivered at those words, remembering a time when he'd been the one saying them. "The ring is mine now!"

Closing his eyes and sucking in a deep breath, asking any deity who would listen for the strength to do this, Ianto whispered a broken, "I'm sorry," and pulled the trigger.

Jack's body slumped to the cold concrete ground. Blood flowed from the back of his head and the ring fell out of his hand to land with a loud clink in the silence following the deadly sound of the gunshot. Ianto bent to pick up the ring, and didn't give it a single glance before pulling back his arm and throwing it as fast and as hard as he could into the Rift. He watched as the orange light gathered in on itself and disappeared, taking the dark temptress of a ring with it.

As much as he wished he could feel good about ensuring the safety of the Earth, his attention shifted to Jack's body lying still on the concrete, and the cold hard truth of what he'd done sunk in. He'd killed a man. He'd killed _Jack. _

Ianto covered his mouth with one hand and pressed the other to his stomach, trying to keep his dinner down, but he gagged and then staggered away to vomit up everything in his stomach. Panting, he wished someone were there with a flannel to wipe away the sweat, blood, and tears that were on his face. He was still bent over double when he heard Jack's gasp as the man returned to life. Straightening, he willed his shaking legs to carry him over to Jack, who was sitting up and looking all over the car park with a bewildered gaze, and forced himself to kneel beside his captain.

"W-what happened?" asked Jack, grabbing onto Ianto's arms. "You look like shit."

Ianto stared at Jack. "You don't remember?" His voice wobbled.

"One minute I had the ring in my hand, the next I was being dragged back into life." Jack frowned. "What happened, Ianto?" he demanded.

Ianto was pale in the dim light of a car park at night, even more so than usual. His eyes dropped to the gun that was still on the ground, and Jack's followed. Understanding dawned on Jack's face, and he drew Ianto into his embrace, cradling the younger man's head against his chest.

"I'm sorry," Ianto sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Jack."

Rubbing Ianto's back, Jack kissed the top of his head. "It's okay. I forgive you. I forgive you," he repeated.

Ianto kept shaking. "Sorry," he whispered. "I was wrong, when I said that you're not the monster; _I_ am."

"No Ianto, you're not. It might not have been a _good_ decision, but it was the _right_ one. You… Shooting me to make sure the ring was thrown into the Rift probably saved me." Ianto looked up then. "We don't know how that ring could have affected us all. You might have even saved the world." Jack grinned.

"Yeah, well, I never want to do that again." Ianto was still shaking, but he tried to pull himself together, putting on his emotionless façade and holstering the gun.

"I forgive you," Jack repeated, enunciating each word.

Ianto managed a weak smile, though it was obvious he didn't believe that he was forgiven for murdering Jack.

"Well, aren't you going to help me up?"

Glad that the difficult conversation seemed to be over, Ianto crawled out of Jack's arms and stood, then extended his hand and offered it to Jack, who took it, helping him up. Once he was standing, though, Jack didn't let go of the younger man's hand, giving it a squeeze instead. He led them back to the SUV. "Check on Owen before going back to yours?" he asked once they were seated inside the vehicle.

Ianto nodded, and forced himself to meet Jack's eyes. "I don't think I can forgive myself for this. I _killed_ you. I can't just let it go."

"Hey, listen." Jack undid his seatbelt and leant over the centre console. "You didn't let your emotions get in the way of acting for the good of all. I'm proud of you." He reached up to stroke Ianto's cheek, and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

Owen flew into a rage when he heard what his colleagues had done, but he calmed down when Jack and Ianto convinced him that it was for the best. The ring was no longer Torchwood's problem, thanks to Ianto's heart-wrenching decision to shoot Jack and get rid of the ring, and until the next evil object fell through the Rift, the darkness was gone.

When he fell into bed with Ianto later, Jack made sure to show the young man just how grateful he was for the sacrifice he'd made. And neither he nor Ianto knew it, but the rest of the team all found it easier to sleep that night, knowing that, for the moment, the world was safe.


End file.
